Snap-hook.



Patented June 26, I900. J. A. GAVITT.

SNAP HOOK.

(Application filed Dad. 5, 1899,)

(No mum //v VENTOR I WITNESSES. & 4

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71-4: NORRXS PETERS co, PHOTD-LITHQ, wAsnmc-rnm Nrrnn STATES JAMES ALEXANDER GAVITT, OF lVAITSBURG, WVASIIINGTON, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES WESLEY AND FRED MCCOY, OF SAME PLACE.

SNAP-HOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 652,556, dated June 26, 1900.

Application filed December 5, 1899. Serial No. 739,285. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES ALEXANDER GAV- ITT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Waitsburg, in the county of WValla Walla and State of RVashington, have invented. a new and Improved Snap-Hook, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. 1

This invention relates to asnap-hook adapt ed especially for use in harness, the object being to provide a snap-hook without springs which will be more certain of action and more easily operated than other devices of its class.

This specification is the disclosure of one form of my invention, while the claim defines the actual scope thereof.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the invention, showing the hook closed and illustrating by dotted lines the position of the parts when open. Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isaplan view of the keeper detached, and Fig. at is a plan view of the main portion or hook proper of the device with the cover removed.

The main portion or hook proper comprises a shank a-and a hook I). If desired, the shank may be provided with an eye a or any other device for attaching the snap-hook to the harness. The body of the device issplit longitudinally, as shown best in Fig. 4, forming an open space or slot c,'extendin g through the hook proper, b, andinto the shank (t. This forms the hook 1) into two like parts or checkpieces, and the bills or points of these cheekpieces are formed on their under sides with notches II, as best shown in Fig. 1.

The keeper comprises a thumb-plate (I, mounted to slide on the upper side of the shank a, which is made plane to match with the plane under face of the thumb-plate. The thumb-plate is provided at its front end with a forwardlyprojecting lip 66, which is adapted to project into the recesses l) of the hook Z1 when the keeper is in closed posi tion, as shown in Fig. 1. The keeper has a centrally and longitudinally disposed web 6, which is mounted to slide in the slot 0, the

web being integral with the thumb-plate, and this web has a front extension forming ahook f, which lies between the cheek-pieces of the hook I) and is movable from the position shown by full lines in Fig. 1 rearwardly to the position shown by dotted lines, in which latter position the bill or point of the hook f will lie in transverse alinementwith the bills or points of the cheek-pieces of the hook I). The keeper 6c is held in place by one or more pins g, which are fastened in the shank (t and extend across the slot 0, the web 6 having alongitudinallydisposed slot 6, in which the pins 9 are received,

as shown, thus permitting the necessary movement of the keeper, but preventing the displacement of the same.

In using the hook to engage with an eye, strap, or the like the keeper is moved to the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and the part with which the device is to be engaged is dropped into the hook f of the keeper below the bills or points of the hook I). Strain is then placed on the snap-hook, and the keeper is caused to move to the position shown in Fig. 1, in which the hookfwill essentially coincide with the hook I), and the forward end of the thumb-plate (Z will be engaged with the bills of the hook I), thus preventing the disengagement of the snap-hook from the part with which it is connected. The keeper being friction-tight on the body of the snap-hook, it will be seen that there is no possibility of the keepermovi'ng accidentally to open position, and, further, the strain on the device will, through the engagement of the hook f with the part to which the snaphook is fastened, cause the keeper always to remain in closed position. The top of the thun1b-plate (Z is milled or scored to, furnish an effective hold thereon, and to open the hook it is only necessary to push the thumb-plate (Z backward, thus moving the parts. to the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1 and permitting the disengagement of the ring on the snap-hook.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- A snap-hook, having a main portion anda keeper, the top face of which main portion is plane, and the main portion having a hook projected from the shank, the main portion also having a longitudinallydisposed slot therein lying in the plane of the hook and extending into and through the shank, and the keeper comprisinga thumb-plate with a plane under face lying snugly on the top face of the shank, and of a width equal to the thickness of the shank, the front end of the thumbplate being projected in position to engage with the point or bill of the hook, whereby to close the hook, and the keeper also comprising a longitudinally-disposed Web projecting from the under face of the thumb-plate and lying friction-tight in the slot of the main portion, the web having a front extension form- I 5 ing a hook and lying adjacent to the hook of the main portion, and a pin or pins extended transversely through the shank and through a slot in the Web, whereby to slidably mount the keeper.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES ALEXANDER GAVITT.

Vitnesses:

W. H. FLETCHER, D. V. W001). 

